Lines which should have a Sunday service – is the Joint twixt Peterboro' & Doncaster the most deserving?

[70014IronDuke]

I've just been looking over the ORR entry-exit figures for the Peterboro' – Doncaster joint and find them astonishing for the last data entries, ie 2024-25

Spalding – 208,000 entries-exits.

Sleaford – 296,000 – (Has Nottingham-Grantham as major contributor to these figures, of course, but still has a staggerng – at least to me - 110,000 to/from Lincoln annually, using Railway data - https://www.railwaydata.co.uk/odm/gbr/?dest=all&string_out=Sleaford+[6362].)

Ruskington, popn 5,700 - 71,000 entries-exits

Tiny Metheringham popn 3,600 - boasts almost 82,000 entries-exits!
That's 262 per day that the station is open for this rural village.

Further north, Gainsboro' Lea Road – 211,000, (OK, many of these will be on trains to/from Sheffield, which does have a Sunday service to boot. Ditto Saxilby almost 94,000)

And yet this whole route (bar the Lincoln – Saxilby bit) has no Sunday service.

Is there any more route in the country more deserving of a Sabbath train service, and are there any attempts to start one? Are there a lot of level crossings, or does NR want to keep it clear for LNER Sunday diversions?

Even a limited Spalding Peterboro' would be a start.

EDIT Just to add, I know EMR get a lot of stick in here, but the company seems to have done a decent job of trying to upgrade the service and it seems to be paying off in terms of passenger growth. (Except perhaps cutting the Lincoln - Doncaster service off, making journeys from teh south to Donny more difficult).

 

[Failed Unit]

This is an interesting one, it won’t be signalling now as unless someone can correct me, I think all the boxes are staffed now.

If you look at the Franchise it is one of the many unmet commitments for Lincolnshire.

1. Hourly Lincoln - Grimsby (which is desperately needed)
2. Hourly Lincoln - Doncaster.
3. Sunday services Lincoln - Doncaster. (But not Peterborough - Lincoln)

When the franchise was awarded I never got this as the Southern end is the busier end. Agree that is probably a very good candidate for a Sunday service.

 

[dk1]

Lincoln-Sleaford gets a two-hourly Sunday service from December.

 

[Failed Unit]

Wow - i missed that - odd they are not going to Peterborough. The Spalding - Peterborough section is one of the highest in terms of demand in the area.

 

[dk1]

I can only assume it’s a start and the easiest way to do it with a Lincoln crew and one unit. Looks like PNBs will be at Sleaford (if that’s a permitted PNB point) as around a 40min turnaround with good connectivity into services to/from Skegness.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Lincoln-Sleaford gets a two-hourly Sunday service from December.

Hmmm. Interesting development.

IS it likely to mean the Sleaford - Skeggy trains get even more cosy on Summer Sundays next year?

This is an interesting one, it won’t be signalling now as unless someone can correct me, I think all the boxes are staffed now.

If you look at the Franchise it is one of the many unmet commitments for Lincolnshire.

1. Hourly Lincoln - Grimsby (which is desperately needed)
2. Hourly Lincoln - Doncaster.
3. Sunday services Lincoln - Doncaster. (But not Peterborough - Lincoln)

Oh well, that's not such a good record then when it comes to meeting the franchise commitments then, is it? But I suppose after Covid, it was all down to the DfT.
Strange that 3 did not include the southern section. Spaldingers would have felt reet peeved, with that, I should think.

 

[High Dyke]

I can only assume it’s a start and the easiest way to do it with a Lincoln crew and one unit. Looks like PNBs will be at Sleaford (if that’s a permitted PNB point) as around a 40min turnaround with good connectivity into services to/from Skegness.

Yes, Sleaford has a small staff room, but I don't think they have toilet facilities available (the key for the public toilet is kept in the ticket office - closed on a Sunday).

 

[dk1]

Yes, Sleaford has a small staff room, but I don't think they have toilet facilities available (the key for the public toilet is kept in the ticket office - closed on a Sunday).

Must have full facilities or cannot be called a PNB point for traincrew.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Sunday at 16:29 ==

Hmmm. Interesting development.

IS it likely to mean the Sleaford - Skeggy trains get even more cosy on Summer Sundays next year?

Difficult to say really.

 

[The Foghorn]

Point of order - Spaldonians!

The problem with a Sunday service is that it just increases the subsidy required, so it's a hard sell.

Certainly the historical reason was the staffing for all the manual crossings, but they're long gone. There are regular freights now on a Sunday, which didn't happen before the December 25 ecml timetable uplift.

 

[Nottingham59]

Yes, Sleaford has a small staff room, but I don't think they have toilet facilities available (the key for the public toilet is kept in the ticket office - closed on a Sunday).

Can they not get a spare key to be kept in the staff room?

 

[yorksrob]

All lines should have a Sunday service in this day and age.

The fact that there are still those that don't is a bit of a throwback to when passenger numbers were declining before the early 1980's.

 

[Lemmy99uk]

Can they not get a spare key to be kept in the staff room?

That would likely last about a week.
Better to change the toilet lock to a standard BR 1 or similar.

 

[dk1]

Can they not get a spare key to be kept in the staff room?

But wouldn’t staff toilets have to be just that? I have never known a single PNB point where they are shared with the public. It’s just not permitted.

 

[70014IronDuke]

All lines should have a Sunday service in this day and age.

Well, you may be right - but we are where we are - and the best way to change things, I would argue, is to focus on where change is most likely to make the best case.
I also think the Glasgow & South Western should have a better edit SUNDAY service, certainly north of Dumfries - but I believe the joint has a better case, and I can't see Scotrail sanctioning more north of Dumfies on the Sabbath very easily.

 

[A S Leib]

Possibly the Marston Vale line, but I'd imagine there's better bus alternatives than for Sleaford (at least hourly for Bedford to central Milton Keynes), and that it will get Sunday services before or by the (distant?) time Oxford to Bedford services start.

 

[172007]

Birmingham to Stratford OA via Solihull and Dorrodge.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 17:26 ==

But wouldn’t staff toilets have to be just that? I have never known a single PNB point where they are shared with the public. It’s just not permitted.

Stratford OA has a shared toilet.

 

[dk1]

Birmingham to Stratford OA via Solihull and Dorrodge.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 17:26 ==


Stratford OA has a shared toilet.

And it’s an official PNB point? I’ve not known that for many years now. Out of interest, what is OA?

 

[172007]

And it’s an official PNB point? I’ve not known that for many years now. Out of interest, what is OA?

On Avon

 

[dk1]

On Avon

Isn’t it Upon Avon?

 

[ChrisC]

Possibly the Marston Vale line, but I'd imagine there's better bus alternatives than for Sleaford (at least hourly for Bedford to central Milton Keynes), and that it will get Sunday services before or by the (distant?) time Oxford to Bedford services start.

I don’t think Sleaford has any buses on Sundays!
Even during the week bus services are somewhat limited.

 

[Bletchleyite]

All lines across the whole network should have a Sunday service. Sunday is no longer a religious day of rest, rather it is a shopping day as busy as Saturday, albeit a shortened one, and the absence of one prevents the use of the train for a weekend away, a very common leisure use case.

 

[A S Leib]

All lines across the whole network should have a Sunday service. Sunday is no longer a religious day of rest, rather it is a shopping day as busy as Saturday, albeit a shortened one, and the absence of one prevents the use of the train for a weekend away, a very common leisure use case.

It also feels very strange that in Germany, for example, Sunday timetables aren't very (any?) different in most cases whilst shops outside railway stations are closed.

 

[172007]

Isn’t it Upon Avon?

It is correctly. Tomotoes and Tomatows i suppose.

In fairness depending on on the time of the year its Stratford in Avon

 

[dk1]

It is correctly. Tomotoes and Tomatows i suppose.

In fairness depending on on the time of the year its Stratford in Avon

My first thought was Open Access.